“[I]t is Mr. Cagney’s verve and virtuosity that make the character sufferable. It is his skill at giving the hard-boiled ‘muscler’ a certain vividness and gutter gallantry that make it possible […] to like him a little bit […]. Mr. Cagney and Miss Day do their jobs extremely well and make an uncommonly interesting and dramatic couple for a musical film. […] when Mr. Cagney finally slaps Miss Day in the face [… i]t’s as real as when the old ‘Public Enemy’ squashed a grapefruit in Mae Clarke’s face. And, of course, it is hard to think of anyone better qualified to do the job of singing Miss Etting’s old numbers than the lovely and lyrical Miss Day.”Bosley Crowther: Story Ballad of Ruth Etting and The Gimp; Musical ‘Love Me or Leave Me’ Opens Doris Day and Cagney Play Lead Roles. In: The New York Times, 27. Mai 1955.
“The off-beat aspects of the strange real-life relationship of Etting and ‘Col.’ Moe […] Snyder has been caught with an honesty and realism that borders on creating mixed emotions. […] His personation of the clubfooted Chicago hoodlum and muscle-man is the Cagney of the Warner Bros. gangster pictures of the early 1930s – hard-bitten, cruel, sadistic and unrelenting. […] Under Metro filming, in CinemaScope and color, it’s a rich canvas of the Roaring 20s with gutsy and excellent performances.” Vgl. Love Me or Leave Me. In: Variety, 1955.
